Disposable cigarette lighter



Sheet Filed July 28, 1967 PIC-L1 FIGHZ FIG.3 F76.4

INVENTOR 6774/1/45) h- WEWMA/V ATTORNEYS June 1969 s. H. NEWMAN 3,447,882

Y DISPOSABLE CIGARETTELIGHTERV Filed July 28, 1967 Sheet of 4 INVENTOR SIHNLEf/l Nt'Wl/A/V BY W 1/144 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,447,882 DISPOSABLE CIGARETTE LIGHTER Stanley H. Newman, Schwartz & Frohlich, 19 E. 70th 51:, New York, N.Y. 10021 Filed July 28, 1967, Ser. No. 656,771 Int. Cl. F2311 2/08, ]/04 US. Cl. 431-131 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to cigarette lighters of the type using liquified gas such as butane for fuel, and more particularly to a lighter which may be thrown away after the, initial supply of fuel has been exhausted.

In'recent years gas fueled lighters (popularly called butane lighters) have become more and more popular due to the fact that a large supply of gaseous fuel in liquified form can be stored in the lighter in a relativly small space. It is possible to store in a space of about A cubic inch volume sufficient liquified gas to supply the necessary fuel in normal usage for a period of several months.

The usual means of refilling a gas cigarette lighter is by use of a separate disposable tank (such as shown in Us. Patent No. 2,943,471) or by what is called a refill system (such as shown in US. Patent No. 2,743,597) whereby liquified gas from a large supply container is allowed to flow into a reservoir contained within the lighter. Lighters of these types are relatively expensive since they must be made of exceptionally durable material since they are expected to work for years. As a result, the cost of the material going into such lighters is quite high. Attempts have been made heretofore to provide disposible non-refillable lighters of the gas type. However, as far as it is known, none of the so-called disposable lighters have been successful.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable gas fuel lighter which is economical to manufacture, easily operated, safe and usable over a long period of time until the fuel supply is exhausted by means of normal usage.

In the accompanying drawings an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, and it is described in detail in this specification. However, it is to be understood that the illustrated embodiment is for the purpose of 'fully disclosing to those skilled in the art the present invention and it is not to be interpreted as a limitation upon the scope of the invention which is to be determined by the claims attached hereto.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a disposable lighter in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front side view of the lighter of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the lighter of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a rear view of the lighter of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a partial fragmentary side sectional view of the lighter of FIGURE 1 taken along and in the direction of lines 5 5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side sectional view of the valve and burner assembly along lines 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

ICE

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view along lines 7-7 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view along lines 8-8 of FIG- URE 5; and

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary side view of the present lighter showing the fingerpiece in an open position.

Referring to the drawings and to FIGURES 1 through 5 in particular, a lighter '10 in accordance with the present invention is shown. The lighter 10 includes a casing 12 which may be made of any moldable plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride or any similar material which is at least resistant to the liquified gaseous fuel. The casing 12 is advantageously open at its upper end so that a valve and flint support 14 may be inserted into the casing. In turn, a valve and burner assembly 16 is placed within the support 14.

A head mechanism 18 is provided and it is also inserted at least partially into the casing 12 and in contact with the valve and burner assembly 16. To insure that the casing 12 will properly support the valve and flint support 14, as well as the head mechanism 18, a stiffener 20 is provided in the form of a rib within the casing 12.

An interior shoulder 19 is provided within the casing 12 and it is upon this shoulder that the valve and flint support 14 rests. To insure a gas type fit between the support 14 and the casing 12 a suitable adhesive may be used to hold the support 14 securely in place.

As shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 in particular, the support 14 includes a valve body 21 into which is positioned a valve cap 22 by means of screw threads. Contained within the valve cap 22 is a burner tube 24, through which there extends a bore 26. At the lower end of the bore 26 a valve seal 28 of suitable gas resistant material such as neoprene is provided. Also contained within the valve cap 22 and positioned directly beneath the valve seal 28 is a valve seat. 30. The valve seat 30 has a vertical opening 31 therein and it overlies a fuel pad 32. The fuel pad 32 in turn is positioned over a bore 34 in the valve body 21. The bore 34 in turn is in communication with a tube 36 which extends well into the lower portion of the casing 12 and is in contact with the supply of liquified gas fuel F. The fuel F in the casing 12 is usually butane maintained in a liquified form under slight pressure so that it will change to a gas when exposed to atmospheric pressure. It is by means of the fuel pad 32 that the liquified gas F is exposed to atmospheric pressure. This occurs when the burner tube 24 which is normally maintained in a closed position by means of a burner spring 38 is raised upwardly. The upward movement of the burner tube 24 lifts the valve seal 28 away from its covering engagement with the opening 31 in the valve seat 30. This permits the fuel to volatilize from the pad 32, flow through the opening 31 around the lower end of the burner tube 24 and then through a port 40 which communicates with the bore 26 in the burner tube 24. The gas continues to flow through the bore 26 and out through the burner opening 42.

The means of igniting the gas flowing from the opening 42 will be discussed hereinafter.

In order to raise the burner tube 24 so that gas may escape through the opening 42, a bifurcated valve lifter 44 is provided. The amount of fuel which escapes through the opening 42 is determined by the degree of pressure which is exerted by the valve seat 30 against the fuel pad 32; the greater pressure the less the flow of fuel. The degree of pressure is regulated in a coarse adjustment by means of the threaded connection between the valve body 21 and the valve cap 22. For a fine flame adjustment an adjuster 46 is fitted about the upper portion of the valve cap 22 in wrench-like fashion so that a slight movement of the cap 23 may be made relative to the body 21.

In order to prevent any escape of fuel inadvertently from the pad 32 in a direction other than through'the opening 31, an O-ring 47 is provided beneath the valve seat 30, as shown in FIGURE 6.

The head mechanism 18 includes a U-shaped support frame 48 consisting of a pairof arms 50 and a center portion 52. Extending downwardly from the arm 50 are tabs 54 which are provided with inwardly stamped notches 56 which act as detents. In order to insert the head mechanism into fixed contact with the valve and flint support 14, the support frame 48 with the attached head mechanism is pressed downwardly so that the notched detents 56 engage shoulders 58 provided on the support 14.

As shown in FIGURES through 8 in particular, in order to activate the valve lifter 44 so that fuel may escape from the opening 42, as well as to create a field of sparks to ignite the escaping fuel, a fingerpiece 60 is rotatably mounted on the support frame 48. The fingerpiece 60 includes a top portion 62 and downwardly extending arms 64. A sparkwheel 66 is mounted on the arms 64 by means of a sparkwheel bearing 68 through which isextended a support pin 70. The pin 70 extends through the cutouts 72 in the arms 50 of the support frame 48. On each end of the pin 70 a cam bearing 74 is provided and the bearing 74 is positioned within the cutout 72. Thesparkwheel 66 has a ratchet plate 76 mounted on one side thereof. To rotate the sparkwheel 66 with its attached ratchet plate 76, a pawl plate 78 is provided and rotatably positioned about the sparkwheel bearing 68.'The plate 78 abuts against a portion 79 of the fingerpiece 60 so that the plate 78 is rotated whenever the fingerpiece 60 is rotated.

In order to permit the fingerpiece 60 to be rotated, the rear portion 80 of casing 12 is fitted with cutouts 82 for arm 64.

When the fingerpiece 60 is rotated, the sparkwheel turns causing a field of sparks to be generated since there is provided within the flint holder 84 a .flint 86 which is pressed against the sparkwheel by a spring 88.

As the-'fingerpiece 60 is rotated, the arms 64 contact the rear portion of the valve lifter 44 causing it to be" pivoted about a fulcrum 90. The bifurcated front end of the lifter then contacts the burner tube 24 and opens the valve as discussed previously.

As shown in FIGURES 5 and 9 in particular, the mounting of the fingerpiece 60 is not rigidly fixed. The bearing earns 74 advantageously permit a floating action to be obtained. Since the size of the openings 72 in the arms 50 of the support frame 48 is greater than the cam bearing 74 the action of the flint spring 88 on the flint 86 and in turn the sparkwheel 66 causes the bearing 74 to be urged upwardly within the cutout 72 so that the fingerpiece is positively cammed into a closed position. By this same floating arrangement when the fingerpiece is rotated to an open position, as shown in FIGURE 9, the bearing 74 acts to cam the fingerpiece into its open position by riding downwardly within the cutouts 72.

The cutout and cam arrangement utilizes the spring pressure of the flint spring 88 and eliminates the necessity for a special closure spring for the fingerpiece.

It will. be noted that many of the components of the illustrated lighter may be molded of plastic materials eliminating the need for expensive metal parts and costly machining. For example, the valve cap 22 is made of a suitable moldable plastic as are the flame adjuster 46, the fingerpiece 60 and the cam bearings 74. Of course, the entire valve and flint support 14 is made of a single. integrally molded piece.

By utilizing moldable plastic materials to a large degree and by eliminating special closure springs for the fingerpiece, the cost of the present cigarette lighter is substantially reduced.

If desired, a protective metal screen or shield can be providedin the area of the head mechanism adjacent to the top opening 42 in the burner tube 24. A metal shield 92 may be placed on the under surface portion of the top 62 of the fingerpiece 60. Also, a metal shield 94 may be placed within the frame work of the support frame 48 in v order to protect anouter finish of the frame piece. The shields 92 and 94 act as flame protectors.

In the claims:

1. A cigarette lighter of the type described including a casing for holding a supply of liquified gaseous fuel, an integral valve and flint support carried by said casing, a valve and burner assembly of the lift type mounted in said support, a valve lifter for activating said'valve, a spring loaded flint inserted into an opening in said support,

a head mechanism including a frame member, a rotatably mounted fingerpiece, a sparkwheel and sparkwheel rotating means, said head mechanism mounted on said support, said sparkwheel contacting the flint, means for movably mounting said sparkwheel and fingerpiece whereby when the fingerpiece is rotated, the valve is opened releasing a stream of gaseous fuel and the sparkwheel is rotated against the flint generating a field of spark into the stream of gaseous fuel, said movable means adapted to maintain the fingerpiece in open and closed positions at the extremes of its rotation under the pressure of the spring loaded flint.

2. A cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for movably mounting the sparkwheel includes cutout portions in the frame member, a pin for rotatably mounting the sparkwheel on its trans-verse axis, bearing cams positioned in the cutouts and mounted on the pin and said bearing cams being free to move within the cutout portions. r

3. A cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 wherein the fingerpiece includes a top portion adapted to be rotatable to a position covering the burner and a pair of flanges projecting from said top portion, openings in said flanges for a pin, said pin mounting the sparkwheel and the fingerpiece on the flame member. 1

4. A cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 wherein the integral valve and flint support is made of molded plastic and includes a flint holder, 21 valve body and a fuel tube. 5. In a cigarette lighterof the type having a rotatable fingerpiece, a mounting frame, a sparkwheel having a transverse axis, a flint contacting the sparkwheel and a 6. In cigarette lighters of the type described in claim 5 wherein the improved means-further includes opposite wall portions on the frame with cutouts in each wall portion and bearing cams mounted on opposite ends of the pin and positioned in the cutouts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HOWARD J. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner..

' US. Cl. X.R. 431-l38, 275 

